Continuous machining system and machining method thereof

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides a continuous machining system and the machining method thereof. The machining system comprises a feeding module, an electrochemical machining module, and a separating module. The feeding module supplies a material strip continuously; the electrochemical machining module performs an electrochemical machining to the material strip. When the feeding module supplies the material strip to the electrochemical machining module continuously, the electrochemical machining module performs the electrochemical machining to the material strip continuously for forming continuously a plurality of components on the material strip. The separating module separates the plurality of components from the material strip. Thereby, the machining time is saved, and thus achieving the purposes of continuous machining and mass production.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to a machining system and the machining method thereof, and particularly to a continuous machining system and the machining method thereof.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Owing to people's requirement for convenience in usage, electronic products are developing in the trend of miniaturization. In order to install a great amount of components in miniature electronic products without compromising performance, the most direct method is to shrink the volume of the components, leading to substantial increase for demand of miniature components. The fabrication process of miniature components is quite difficult: the structural rigidity of components is reduced after miniaturization. In addition, it is more challenging to assemble miniature components into miniature electronic products, resulting in higher assembly complexity.

In order to improve the problems described above, multiple-piece components are mostly integrated to an integral component in current designs. Thereby, the assembly procedure is reduced and the assembly accuracy of components in electronic products is enhanced as well. Besides, materials with higher rigidity, such as stainless steel, are adopted for manufacturing the components in order to increasing the structural strength and wear resistance.

Stainless steel is a material hard to be processed. If stainless steel is adopted as the material for the components, CNC milling and cutting is mostly adopted. Nonetheless, it requires a great deal of labor and processing machines for mass production. If a thinner stainless steel material is used for the components, the etching processing method is adopted presently for producing components. Nonetheless, this method is limited by costly equipment, complicated processing procedures, and insufficient continuity in the fabrication process. According to the above description, none the processing methods described above can meet the requirements of mass production for electronic products. Although forging can be used for soft materials such as copper for achieving the purpose of mass production, for the materials with high hardness, press forging generates a great deal of stress, which introduces the concern of deformation in the sizes of the components.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a continuous machining system and the machining method thereof for solving the problems described above and achieving the purposes of continuous machining and mass production.

SUMMARY

An objective of the present invention is to provide a continuous machining system and the machining method thereof. The present invention provides a material strip for performing electrochemical machining to the material strip continuously. Thereby, the purposes of continuous machining and mass production can be achieved and the machining costs can be reduced effectively.

Another objective of the present invention is to provide a continuous machining system and the machining method thereof. The present invention uses an electrochemical machining method to machine the material strip for reducing stress generation in the material strip and avoiding deformation of the component formed on the material strip. Thereby, the machining accuracy and the surface quality can be improved effectively.

Still another objective of the present invention is to provide a continuous machining system and the machining method thereof. The present invention combines electrochemical machining and forging process. The electrochemical machining machines the material strip and reduces the thickness of the material strip for reducing wear on molds as well as stress generation during the forging process. Thereby, the machining accuracy can be improved. In addition, by using the electrochemical machining, miniature components can be formed.

The present invention discloses a continuous machining system, which comprises a feeding module, an electrochemical machining module, and a separating module. The feeding module supplies a material strip continuously. The electrochemical machining module performs an electrochemical machining to the material strip and forming a plurality of components on the material strip. The separating module separates the plurality of components from the material strip.

The present invention further discloses a continuous machining method, which comprises steps of supplying a material strip continuously, performing an electrochemical machining to the material strip and forming a plurality of components on the material strip, and finally separating the plurality of components from the material strip.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of the continuous machining system according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of the material strip after the electrochemical machining according the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 shows a schematic diagram of the electrochemical machining module according the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 shows a schematic diagram of the component separated from the material strip according the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 shows a schematic diagram of the continuous machining system according to the second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6A shows a schematic diagram of the material strip according the second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6B shows another schematic diagram of the material strip according the second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 shows a usage status diagram of the electrochemical machining module according the second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 shows still another schematic diagram of the material strip according the second embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 9 shows a schematic diagram of the continuous machining system according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In order to make the structure and characteristics as well as the effectiveness of the present invention to be further understood and recognized, the detailed description of the present invention is provided as follows along with embodiments and accompanying figures.

The present invention provides a continuous machining system and the machining method thereof, which use the electrochemical machining method for machining materials with high hardness for reducing the stress in the produce generated during machining. Thereby, deformation of the machined products can be prevented. Besides, the present invention adopts the material strip as the machining base material and supplies the material strip continuously for performing the electrochemical machining. Thereby, manual placement of machining base materials can be reduced, which increase the machining speed and thus achieving the purposes of continuous machining and mass production.

Please refer to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, which show a schematic diagram of the continuous machining system and a schematic diagram of the material strip after the electrochemical machining according to the first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figures, the present embodiment provides a continuous machining system 1, which comprises a feeding module 10 and an electrochemical machining module 12. The feeding module 10 supplies a material strip 101 to the electrochemical machining module 12. The material of the material strip 101 can be any conductive material, for example, stainless steel with high hardness or copper, which is a soft material. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the material strip 101 is adopted as the machining base material and can be supplied continuously to the electrochemical machining module 12 for performing the electrochemical machining. Because the electrochemical machining module 12 adopts the electrolytic machining method, an electrode machining unit 122 of the electrochemical machining module 12, as shown in FIG. 3, can be used for performing the electrochemical machining. Consequently, the machining speed can be improved and the machining efficiency can be enhanced.

The electrochemical machining module 12 performs an electrochemical machining to at least a machining region 1011 of the material strip 101 for forming a component 1012 in each machining region 1011. The feeding module 10 supplies the material strip 101 continuously to the electrochemical machining module 12, so that the electrochemical machining module 12 can perform the electrochemical machining continuously on the material strip 101 and forming a plurality of components 1012 on the material strip 101. Thereby, manual placement of the machining base material is no longer required; the purposes of continuous machining and mass production can be achieved and the production costs can be reduced accordingly. In addition, the continuous machining system 1 according to the present embodiment can use the electrochemical machining to machine stainless material strip 101 with high hardness and forming the components 1012 on the material strip 101. In the machining stage, the stress generated by the forging process in the material strip 101 is reduced for avoiding deformation of the plurality of components 1012. Thereby, the machining efficiency can be enhanced and the costs can be reduced. Besides, in comparison with other machining methods, such as etching, according to the prior art, processing the material strip 101 using the electrochemical machining simplifies the photolithography process of etching and the long-time etching process.

The feeding module 10 according to the present embodiment includes a material frame 102, which has a roll 1021. The material strip 101 according to the present embodiment is a rolling strip disposed around the roll 1021. As the roll 1021 of the material frame 102 drives the material strip 101 to rotate, the material frame 102 supplies continuously the material strip 101 to the electrochemical machining module 12. The electrochemical machining module 12 performs the electrochemical machining to the machining regions 1011 of the material strip 101 continuously for forming the plurality of components 1012 on the material strip 101.

FIG. 3 shows a schematic diagram of the electrochemical machining module according the first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the electrochemical machining module 12 comprises an electrolyte supplying unit 121, an electrode machining unit 122, and a power unit 123. According to the present embodiment, the electrolyte supplying unit 121 can be nozzle for injecting electrolyte to the machining region 1011 of the material strip 101 entering the electrochemical machining module 12. In addition, the electrolyte supplying unit 121 can be an electrobath. The machining region 1011 of the material strip 101 entering the electrochemical machining module 12 is immersed in the electrobath. The electrode machining unit 122 includes a machining electrode 1221. There is a gap between the machining electrode 1221 and the material strip 101. The machining electrode 1221 corresponds to the machining region 1011 of the material strip 101. There is a pattern (not shown in the figure) on the surface of the machining electrode 1221 corresponding to machining region 1011 to perform the electrochemical machining for electrolyzing the machining region 1011 of the material strip 101. Hence, a portion of the material of the material strip 101 is removed for forming the components 1012 on the material strip 101.

A positive terminal of the power unit 123 is connected to a conductive wheel 125, which rolls the material strip 101 for supplying the material strip 101 to the electrochemical machining module 12. A negative terminal of the power unit 123 is connected to the machining electrode 1221 of the electrode machining unit 122. When the power unit 123 supplies a power source to the material strip 101 and the electrode machining unit 122, the machining electrode 1221 of the electrode machining unit 122 performs the electrochemical machining to the machining region 1011 of the material strip 101 for forming the components 1012 on the machining region 1011, as shown in FIG. 2. The structure of the component 1012 is complementary to the pattern on the machining electrode 1221. According to an embodiment of the present embodiment, the structure of the component 1012 is a patterned structure without holes.

Refer again to FIG. 1. The continuous machining system 1 according to the present embodiment further comprises a material recovering module 16. Before the continuous machining system starts machining, the material strip 101 supplied by the feeding module 10 first passes through the electrochemical machining module 12 for connecting to the material recovering module 16. Like the feeding module 10, the material recovering module 16 includes a material frame 161. The material frame 161 has a roll 1611. One end of the material strip 101 is connected to the roll 1611.

The continuous machining system 1 according to the present invention further comprises a separating module 14 for separating the plurality of components 1012 formed on the material strip 101 from the material strip 101. The separating module 14 according to the present embodiment is disposed between the electrochemical machining module 12 and the material recovering module 16. Before the machined material strip 101 is conveyed to the material recovering module 16, the material strip 101 passes through the separating module 14 first. The separating module 14 corresponds to the plurality of components 1012 of the material strip 101 and machines the material strip 101 for separating the components 1012 from the material strip 101, as shown in FIG. 4. The material strip 101 is recovered and rolled by the material recovering module 16. According to the present embodiment, the separating module 14 can perform a forging process on the material strip 101 or the plurality of components IOU for separating the plurality of components 1012 from the material strip 101. An example of separating the plurality of components 1012 is to take advantage of the fact that the thickness of the material strip 101 at the locations where the plurality of components 1012 is processed by forging is thinner than the thickness of the material strip 101 at the locations without the electrochemical machining. Thereby, during the cutting and stamping processes on the thin material for forming by using the forging process, the processing stress at the processed parts is lowered for preventing raise and bending, which affects the forming precision.

Please refer to FIG. 5, which shows a schematic diagram of the continuous machining system according to the second embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the continuous machining system 1 according to the present embodiment further comprises a pre-machining module 11 disposed before the electrochemical machining module 12 for performing the pre-machining to the material strip 101 before the electrochemical machining. The pre-machining module 11 is used for forming at least a positioning hole 1013 on both of the left and right sides or both of the top and down sides of the machining region 1011 of the material strip 101, as shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B. Hence, the electrochemical machining module 12 can position the machining region 1011 of the material strip 101 according to the positioning hole 1013 for performing the electrochemical machining to the machining region 1011. Depending on the difficulty of machining the material strip 101, laser or forging can be selected for machining the material strip 101 and forming the positioning hole 1013. In addition, the above pre-machining can be performed directly before forming the components 1012 on the material strip 101 by the electrochemical machining module 12. Thereby, the disposition of the pre-machining module 11 can be omitted.

Please refer to FIG. 7, which shows a usage status diagram of the electrochemical machining module according the second embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the material strip 101 machined by the pre-machining module 11 enters the electrochemical machining module 12. A positioning unit 124 of the electrochemical machining module 12 positions the machining region 1011 of the material strip 101 according to the positioning hole 1013 to make the machining region 1011 correspond to the electrode machining unit 122. Thereby, the electrode machining unit 122 can perform the electrochemical machining to the machining region 1011 accurately and thus forming the component 1012 in the machining region 1011. According to the present embodiment, the positioning unit 124 has at least a positioning pillar 1241 inserting into the positioning hole 1013. Consequently, the machining region 1011 of the material strip 101 can be positioned.

Moreover, the separating module 14 can also have a positioning unit (not shown in the figure). The positioning unit of the separating module 14 is like the positioning unit 124 of the electrochemical machining module 12. Hence, the details will not be described again. The separating module 14 positions the plurality of components 1012 of the machining regions 1011 via the positioning unit to make the plurality of components 1012 correspond to the separating module 14. Thereby, the separating module 14 can separate the plurality of components 1012 from the material strip 101 accurately.

Please refer again to FIG. 5. Before the electrochemical machining module 12 starts to form the plurality of components 1012, the thickness of the machining regions 1011 of the material strip 101 is reduced first, as shown in FIG. 8. The electrochemical machining module 12 performs the electrochemical machining to the material strip 101 for thinning the machining regions 1011 first. Then, the electrochemical machining module 12 performs the electrochemical machining to the thinned machining regions 1011 for forming the components 1012. Because the electrochemical machining module 12 reduces the thickness of the material strip 101, the processing stress generated by the forging process by the separating module 14 subsequently can be reduced and thus avoiding raise and bending of the material strip 101 due to the processing stress. Accordingly, deformation of the separated components 1012 can be prevented, enhancing effectively the processing precision of the forging process as well as the surface quality. In addition, wear on molds can be reduced.

According to the present embodiment, the electrochemical machining module 12 performs the electrochemical machining to the machining regions 1011 of the whole material strip 101 continuously, as shown in FIG. 8. According an embodiment, the thickness of the central region of the whole material strip 101 is reduced for reducing the processing stress generated by the separating module 14 during the press forging process. Besides, the electrochemical machining module 12 does not thin all the regions of the while material strip 101. Instead, only the machining regions 1011 are thinned. Thereby, the unthinned regions of the material strip 101 are equivalent to reinforcing ribs 1014, which maintain the strength of the thinned material strip 101 for avoiding the material strip 101 from being extended and breaking during the conveying process. Furthermore, because the electrochemical machining module 12 does not perform the electrochemical machining to the whole machining regions 1011, only regions machined by the electrochemical machining module 12 and the separating module 14 are thinned. It is not necessary to reduce the thickness of the whole machining regions 1011. Thus, the machining efficiency is improved.

Please refer to FIG. 9, which shows a schematic diagram of the continuous machining system according to the third embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the difference between the continuous machining system 1 according to the present embodiment and the one according to the previous embodiments is that the continuous machining system 1 according to the present embodiment further comprises two cleaning modules 13 and two drying module 15. The two cleaning modules 13 are disposed before and after the electrochemical machining module 12. The first drying module 15 is disposed between the first cleaning module 13 and the electrochemical machining module 12; the second drying module 15 is disposed between the second cleaning module 13 and the separating module 14. The first cleaning module 13 uses a liquid to clean the material strip 101 supplied by the feeding module 10 to the electrochemical machining module 12. Afterwards, the first drying module 15 located in front of the electrochemical machining module 12 injects high-pressure gas to the material strip 101 for removing the liquid on the surface of the material strip 101. Thereby, the material strip 101 can maintain dryness before entering the electrochemical machining module 12.

After the material strip 101 is machined by the electrochemical machining module 12, residual electrolyte remains on the surface of the material strip 101. Thereby, the second cleaning module 13 located after the electrochemical machining module 12 uses the liquid to clean the material strip 101 machined by the electrochemical machining module 12. Then, the second drying module 15 removes the liquid on the surface of the material strip 101 for keeping it clean and dry.

The continuous machining system 1 according to the present embodiment further comprises an antirust processing module 17 disposed between the second drying module 15 and the separating module 14. After the material strip 101 completes the drying process, it enters the antirust processing module 17. The antirust processing module 17 coats an oil film on the material strip 101. By using the oil film to isolate external air from contacting the material strip 101, rust and erosion on the material strip 101 caused by contacting external air can be prevented.

In addition, the continuous machining system 1 according to the present embodiment further comprises a plurality of guiding modules 18 disposed between the feeding module 10 and the electrochemical machining module 12 and between the electrochemical machining module 12 and the material recovering module 16 for guiding the material strip 101 to enter the electrochemical machining module 12 and the material recovering module 16 and avoiding shift of the material strip 101 during the conveying process. The shift will influence the processing precision of the electrochemical machining module 12 and the rolling process of the material recovering module 16. Moreover, according to the present embodiment, the pre-machining module 11 shown in FIG. 5 can also be disposed between the first drying module 15 and the electrochemical machining module 12 for performing the pre-machining to the material strip 101 and facilitating the electrochemical machining module 12 to perform the electrochemical machining to the material strip 101.

To sum up, the present invention provides a continuous machining system and the machining method thereof, which use a tape-and-roll type material strip as the base material. The material strip can be supplied continuously in coordination with an electrochemical machining module and the forging processing method. The material strip is first supplied to the electrochemical machining module, which performs an electrochemical machining to the material strip continuously for forming a plurality of components on the material strip. Finally, a separating module is used for separating the plurality of components from the material strip. Thereby, the purposes of continuous machining and mass production can be achieved; the production speed can be increased and the machining costs can be reduced as well. In addition, by performing the electrochemical machining to the material strip using the continuous machining system and the machining method according to the present invention, stress generated in the material strip can be reduced, which prevents deformation of the components formed on the material strip. Thereby, the drawbacks of the forging process can be solved; the machining precision and the surface quality can be improved accordingly.

Accordingly, the present invention conforms to the legal requirements owing to its novelty, nonobviousness, and utility. However, the foregoing description is only embodiments of the present invention, not used to limit the scope and range of the present invention. Those equivalent changes or modifications made according to the shape, structure, feature, or spirit described in the claims of the present invention are included in the appended claims of the present invention. 

1. A continuous machining system, comprising: a feeding module, supplying a material strip continuously; an electrochemical machining module, performing an electrochemical machining to said material strip, and forming a plurality of components on said material strip; and a separating module, separating said plurality of components from said material strip.
 2. The continuous machining system of claim 1, wherein said separating module performs a forging process for separating said plurality of components from said material strip.
 3. The continuous machining system of claim 2, wherein the thickness of said material strip at the locations where said separating module performs said press forging process to said plurality of components is thinner than the thickness of said material strip without said electrochemical machining.
 4. The continuous machining system of claim 1, and further comprising a pre-machining module, forming at least a positioning hole on said material strip, and said electrochemical machining module comprising a positioning unit for positioning at least a machining region of said material strip according to said positioning hole, performing said electrochemical machining to said machining region, and forming said plurality of components in said machining region.
 5. The continuous machining system of claim 1, wherein said electrochemical machining module further performs said electrochemical machining to a machining region of said material strip for thinning said machining region and forming said plurality of components in said machining region.
 6. The continuous machining system of claim 1, wherein the structure of said plurality of components is a patterned structure without holes.
 7. A continuous machining method, comprising steps of: supplying a material strip continuously; performing an electrochemical machining to said material strip, and forming a plurality of components in said material strip; and separating said plurality of components from said material strip.
 8. The continuous machining method of claim 7, wherein said step of separating said plurality of components from said material strip further comprises a step of performing a forging process to said plurality of components for separating said plurality of components from said material strip, wherein the thickness of said material strip at the locations where said forging process is performed to said plurality of components is thinner than the thickness of said material strip without said electrochemical machining.
 9. The continuous machining method of claim 7, and further comprising a step of forming at least a positioning hole on said material strip for positioning at least a machining region of said material strip according to said positioning hole, performing said electrochemical machining to said machining region, and forming said plurality of components in said machining region.
 10. The continuous machining method of claim 7, wherein said step of performing said electrochemical machining to said material strip further comprises a step of thinning a machining region and forming said plurality of components in said machining region. 